A 22-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl at his friend’s flat in east Delhi’s Shahdara after befriending her and taking her for a ride in his car from outside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in central Delhi, police said.

The crime took place on Friday and the girl reported about the crime on Sunday(HT)

A 22-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl at his friend’s flat in east Delhi’s Shahdara after befriending her and taking her for a ride in his car from outside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in central Delhi, police said.

The crime took place on Friday and the girl reported about the crime on Sunday. Police have also arrested the man’s cousin.

BK Singh, additional commissioner of police (New Delhi), said the girl had fled from her Ashok Vihar home few days ago and was staying at the gurdwara. Her parents had not filed a missing complaint as this was the third time in the past few months that she had fled. “Her family members had filed two kidnapping cases when she left her home in the past,” said Singh.

On Friday, a police officer said, the accused, from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, came to Delhi in his Swift Dzire car to get a study visa for Australia. Around 9pm, he parked his car in the gurdwara’s parking lot and saw the girl walking alone and started following her.

“Soon, he introduced himself to the girl and befriended her after a brief conversation. He then asked her to go for a ride with him in his car. The girl agreed,” said the officer.

The girl in her complaint told police that the man allegedly took her to his friend’s flat in Shahdara and raped her. On Saturday around 6am, he dropped her back outside the gurdwara. Police said he gave her his two mobile phone numbers.

“In the evening, the man met her again outside the gurdwara but this time he was with his cousin. They offered her a ride in the car, which she accepted. But when the man started molesting her in the moving car, the girl resisted. The two then dropped her near the gurdwara and left,” said a police officer.

Singh said the girl approached the local police on Sunday and a rape case was registered on her complaint. During the probe, the location of the suspect was tracked down with the help of the two phone numbers.

“We conducted a raid and arrested him. The girl identified him through his photos on a social media profile,” added Singh.